In the past few years, social media giant Facebook has been the target of millions of complaints about privacy violations. Moreover, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg somehow took ownership of some of these errors and privacy breaches.
Privacy breaches aside, as the average Facebook user, there are many things you can hide yourself from the prying eyes of other users.
One of the most popular options is to hide your birthday. It prevents your smartphone from constantly buzzing on a certain date, and it also keeps you from people you’re not that close with with drink invitations (the drinks they’re waiting for you to pay for, by the way!).
Here’s how you can improve your privacy on Facebook and choose who can see your personal information.
Hide Your Birthday
No matter what you try to hide, almost everything is set in the Settings menu when you log into your Facebook account.
However, when you want to hide your birthday information, you have to follow a different path. Click the About section of your Facebook profile. Scroll down until you reach the Basics section.
You will notice two fields: Date of Birth and Year of Birth. Move your cursor over each field to start making adjustments.
Before the “Edit” button there should be a gray icon showing the level of access you have. Click that and choose an option from the given list:
- Public (visible to all Facebook users)
- Friends (only your Facebook friends can see it)
- Only me (only you can see your birthday)
- Tradition
The private section works similarly to how selective offline chat settings work. You can add contacts manually or via lists and choose whether to let them see your birthday.
Hide Your Age, Not Your Birthday
Facebook allows you to keep your birthday visible, while hiding how old you are from friends and unknown people who may send you requests.
You will notice that under the Basics section you have two fields. The first lists the month and day you were born, and the second lists the year.
Access icon indicators are available for each field when you hover over it. So change the access level for the year to “Only me” and set your birthday access to “Public” or “Friends” so you can continue to receive your birthday videos, wishes and tags.
Other Privacy Settings
Hiding your birthday is just the tip of the iceberg. Here are some other cool tricks you can use to make your profile even more mysterious for curious cats.
Hiding Your Email and Phone Number
People with your phone number or email address can use them to find your Facebook profile, even if you signed up under a fake name.
If you don’t want anyone to find you even with this type of information, go to the Privacy settings.
- Click the down arrow in the upper right corner.
- Click Privacy in the left panel menu.
Use the Edit button to set different access levels for the following fields:
- Who can call you using the email address you provided?
- Who can call you using the phone number you provided?
Set both to Friends so no one outside of your circle can find you on Facebook without knowing your name.
Another great feature is to prevent search engines from using associated email addresses to connect people to your Facebook account.
How to hide your associated emails and phone numbers. Click the About tab to go to the Contact Information page.
Click the Edit button next to the phone and email fields. Select the access level for each item individually. If you set them all to “Me only”, no one, including your friends, will be able to see them. You can also hide your email address from your Facebook timeline by clicking the gray box next to the email field. That way, your friends won’t get a notification the next time you change your address.
Privacy Brings Peace of Mind
Whether you’re a very special person, don’t like to be noticed on your birthday, or just want to see how many people actually remember your important day, it’s easy to hide a birthday on Facebook.
If you’re already fed up with the dozens of notifications Facebook sends you every day, a few hundred more notifications on your birthday may make you want to turn off your phone completely. Fortunately, changing some privacy settings can give you a more comfortable online experience.
